Up, up and .... #*&#%*@!!

Today is the debut of Canada's very own No Fly List at airports across the country.

Oh, goody. After making us pay a surcharge to show up hours before an inevitably delayed flight, throw out our water bottles, unwrap our wedding presents, get notes from our doctor for our medication, shove our toiletries into tiny ziploc bags, and flash our ID to everyone at the airport shy of the people at the gift shop, we might not even be allowed to get on the plane after all.

The No Fly List is not an exercise in passenger security. Unless terrorists start flying under their real names, it's only exercising state power for the sake of exercising state power in a high-profile location. In fact, this page is looking forward to a trip this summer to prove this argument: a few weeks ago I signed a petition in support of removing an Iranian opposition party from their current status as a terrorist organization under Bill C-36. I may not be a big fan of Bush or Harper, but I'm no fan of Al Khamenei or Ahmadinejad either. Will that signature be enough for this page to end up drowning his anger at the airport bar? Watch this space in a few weeks to find out.